Sheikh Obekr, also written Şêxûbekir, Sheikh Abu Bekir or Sheikh U Bakr, is remembered in Yazidi tradition through the sacred black garment, religious lineages and shrines. The surviving evidence is clearest when devotional accounts and the history of individual buildings are read together.

Three conical temple spires rising above pale stone buildings at Lalish, with trees and dry hills behind
A view of Lalish credited to Ger Al Hamud Ser bahger. It shows the wider sacred setting; the individual Abu Bekir mausoleum discussed below is a separate building. © Ger Al Hamud Ser bahger · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons.

The sacred garment

Yazda’s account in the 2019 heritage investigation describes Sheikh U Bakr as a holy figure of Qatani descent, traditionally a friend of Sheikh Adi, and the bearer and protector of the Xar’qa. This sacred black textile symbolises asceticism. [1] His association with it gives a specific focus to his veneration: the garment connects religious authority with a disciplined devotional life. The different spellings—Xar’qa, xerqe and khirqa—appear across the sources used to describe this tradition.

Names and identities in the sources

Birgül Açıkyıldız’s architectural research distinguishes two figures called Sheikh Abû Bekir. In her account, a thirteenth-century figure is associated with Sheikh Hasan’s family, while a later figure is connected with the Qatanî sheikhs. She also records uncertainty over which person a mausoleum at Mem Çivan commemorates. [2] The shared name therefore requires care: a shrine dedication cannot, by itself, establish the complete biography or genealogy of its namesake.

A documented shrine at Lalish

Açıkyıldız surveyed the Lalish Abu Bekir mausoleum in May 2004. It stands northwest of Sheikh Adi’s sanctuary and has a rectangular, barrel-vaulted plan, approximately 11.4 by 4.5 metres, with an arched entrance and wall niches. A recorded inscription dates a restoration funded by disciples to 1976. [2] The survey provides evidence for an identifiable building, its form and a modern act of patronage.

Bahzani: damage and reconstruction

At Bahzani, the Sheikh U Bakr site was reported destroyed on 15 August 2014. EAMENA’s comparison of April 2013 and October 2016 satellite images found the shrine absent and most courtyard trees gone, although the outer enclosure remained. The report includes photographs of the reconstructed shrine in April 2018. [1] Mesopotamia’s field account describes volunteer rebuilding in 2017, financed by donations. The new conical dome had 40 segments and a taller profile than the earlier structure. It also records damage to the surrounding olive grove and irrigation equipment. [3] Reconstruction involved the landscape and community resources as well as the monument.

Understanding religious remembrance

Kreyenbroek and Omarkhali describe Yazidi knowledge circulating through hymns, instructive sermons, prose narratives and relationships with religious guides. Different accounts can coexist within shared observances and obligations. [4] Obekr’s garment association, religious families and named shrines belong to that living setting. These connections explain why his name appears in both sacred narratives and the names of religious sites.

Sources and further reading

  1. Seán Fobbe et al., Destroying the Soul of the Yazidis, RASHID International, Yazda and EAMENA, 2019, pp. 96–97: Sheikh U Bakr.
  2. Birgül Açıkyıldız, Patrimoine des Yézidis: Architecture et sculptures funéraires au Kurdistan irakien, en Turquie et en Arménie, doctoral thesis, Paris I, 2006, vol. I, pp. 116–117, 142 and 151.
  3. Birgül Açıkyıldız-Şengül and Mesopotamia’s field team, Le mausolée yézidi de Cheikh Bakeur al Qatani à Bahzani, survey and June 2018 observations.
  4. Philip Kreyenbroek and Khanna Omarkhali, Yezidi Spirits? On the question of Yezidi beliefs: A review article, Kurdish Studies 4(2), 2016, pp. 197–207, especially 198–199.